Monday, April 02, 2007

The sun was up before I was today--the light is growing and here in Alaska we've finally left the darkness of winter behind. From now until October I'll have more than enough sun to make up for the months I had to live without it.

So I'm starting to think of my garden and the plans I have for it this year. Should I rip out those delphiniums that have given me so much trouble and replace them with aconite? Should I put in another peony? Will my kiwi vine flower? How many jars of raspberry jam will I get this year? Given my thoughts it should surprise no one that this month's Write-Away Contest theme is growing.

Growth in your garden, personal growth, growth of loved ones, growth of your blog, mold growing on your bathroom tile, you decide how to tackle the subject but once again here are the rules:

1. Write a post or find one in your archives about growth or growing. Submit your post's permalink to me via email at: scribbit at gmail.com before Sunday April 15th (that means the deadline is midnight on Saturday April 14th).

2. Link to the contest page here at Scribbit in either your entry post or in a separate post.

3. Check back here on Tuesday April 17th when I will post a complete list of the entries along with the Write-Away Winner.

As stated before, if you fail to meet the April 14th deadline I will still gladly publish the link to your post but your post will not be judged. I have to cut it off at some point or else I'd never be able to get anyone to judge this thing. When I list the winner and all the entries I always list them in the order they were received so the sooner you get your entry in, the closer to the top of the list you will be.

Our guest judge this month is Jeanna at Days to Come who will judge the submissions based on the quality of writing, applicability to the topic and overall ability to engage the reader. This will be a blind judging, she will know neither the entrants' names nor the names of their blogs, but will see only the text and title of each post. And as a final caution, I reserve the right to reject any entries that do not fit the topic or have objectionable content. Sorry to be sticky about it but there it is.

If you are new to the Write-Away Contest you may be interested in reading this post where I give several tips on entering. But when in doubt, take a peak at Jeanna's blog and see what kinds of things might gain her affection--as I've mentioned before, she's a funny lady so be prepared. I leave it up to each guest judge to decide if they wish to award second place, third place or honorable mentions. So far each has chosen to do this and this month it will be left up to Jeanna's discretion; however, please be aware that only the 1st place winner will be awarded a prize.

The prize for which you'll be writing is a genuine Alaskan birch-handled ulu (pronounced "oo'-loo") with a stand and wooden chopping bowl. You don't know what an ulu is? Well it's curved-blade knife used by Alaska Natives that comes in handy when you wish to skin a beaver, clean a whale, or scrape a caribou hide. For you city folk it also works for chopping herbs and vegetables. Ulus are a bit of Alaskan cultural heritage that are popular here and, as well as being rather fun, are a helpful kitchen gadget no matter where you live.

Additionally, the winner will be given the code for the Write-Away Winner button that they can display on their sidebar if they choose. They're the latest and greatest accessory, everyone wants one.

Loved the specific directions for those of us who have just found your site! This is such a great idea and I am glad you have so many people who are getting into this. Thanks from one who hopes to enter!Happy Gardening!

I don't think my writing skills will measure up to all those great bloggers out there, but growth?! Now, there's a subject I can harp on!! But, since this particular "growth spurt" began 3 years ago, I'll just submit a teeny-tiny discertation that happened this week. I'll email it ya. Well, on second thought, can I enter more than one. I have a garden, too!

This will be the first time I participate to the contest ! and I very much like the idea ! I even didn't have to think about the subject very much, because "growing" had been quite a problem in my life ! (but a good problem, lol)